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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
Taking Dignity Seriously: Excavating The Backdrop Of The Eighth Amendment, Meghan J. Ryan
Taking Dignity Seriously: Excavating The Backdrop Of The Eighth Amendment, Meghan J. Ryan
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
The U.S. punishment system is in turmoil. We have a historically unprecedented number of offenders in prison, and our prisoners are serving longer sentences than in any other country. States are surreptitiously experimenting with formulas for lethal injection cocktails, and some prisoners are suffering from botched executions. Despite this tumult, the Eighth Amendment of our Constitution does place limits on the punishments that may be imposed and how they may be implemented. The difficulty, though, is that the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence is a bit of a mess. The Court has been consistent in stating that a focus on …
Does Stare Decisis Apply In The Eighth Amendment Death Penalty Context, Meghan J. Ryan
Does Stare Decisis Apply In The Eighth Amendment Death Penalty Context, Meghan J. Ryan
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Throughout the past few decades, the Supreme Court has steadily chipped away at the death penalty. It was only recently, however, that courts have confronted what role precedent plays in the Eighth Amendment death penalty context. Surprisingly, few scholars have yet explored this important and complicated issue. Precedent in this area is unique because the law of the Eighth Amendment is always changing and the Eighth Amendment has been interpreted to be applied more broadly in the death penalty context. This Article argues that precedent in the Eighth Amendment death penalty context does not apply in the typical fashion. Instead …